Girlfriend gets 8 years for hiding 'Whitey' Bulger

Whitey Bulger in hiding – Illustrations of Bulger and Greig were on display at a press conference in 2004.

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Whitey Bulger in hiding – Catherine Greig, longtime partner of accused mob boss and fugitive James "Whitey" Bulger, was sentenced to eight years in prison.

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Whitey Bulger in hiding – An FBI handout shows various images of Bulger, who became one of America's most wanted men after fleeing in 1995 before an impending indictment on racketeering charges.

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Whitey Bulger in hiding – Bulger sits with his onetime friend and confidant Kevin Weeks in Boston in 1994. Weeks later turned on his former boss. In 2000 he led police to the bodies of eight alleged Bulger victims buried around Boston.

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Whitey Bulger in hiding – Special agent Barry Mawn and U.S. Attorney General Donald Stern hold a press conference naming Whitey Bulger to the FBI's Most Wanted List in August, 1999. After more than 16 years on the run, Bulger and Greig were captured in California.

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Whitey Bulger in hiding – The couple had for several years hidden in plain sight in a three-story apartment building in Santa Monica, California.

Greig pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud and conspiracy to commit identity fraud. Federal prosecutors, calling it "the most extreme case" of harboring a fugitive, asked the judge to give her 10 years in prison.

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"She not only hid his identity, but also hid the fact Bulger had filled their apartment with weapons, enabling Bulger to avoid capture by violence if necessary," prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.

Woodlock, before imposing the sentence in U.S. District Court in Boston, said Greig had to pay a price for her bad choices. He suggested she could show that she was making better choices by cooperating with prosecutors in the case against Bulger.

Her lawyer made it clear outside of the courthouse that she would not become a government witness because she feels "the love of her life" is innocent.

Stephen Rakes, who says his South Boston liquor store was taken over by Bulger, was one of the victims who spoke in court before the sentencing. He said he thought Greig should have been given the maximum 15 years in prison.

"She has no heart," Rakes said after the sentencing. "She probably sleeps in an ice chest."

Bulger, who is being held without bail, was the head of a South Boston Irish gang before he fled an impending racketeering indictment in 1995. He evaded law enforcement for 16 years before he and Greig were arrested in June 2011 in Santa Monica.